N26 Considers More Fundraising Before Prospective 2023 IPO

N26, a German FinTech, is looking to do at least one more funding round before going public in 2023 at the earliest, and eyeing breaking even on an operating level in 2021, Reuters reported.

N26, which was founded in 2013 and is Germany’s most valuable FinTech with $570 million raised, offers a smartphone-based banking app that works as a scalable and cost-efficient model. It’s already drawn attention from firms like insurer Allianz, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, Chinese internet giant Tencent, venture capital firm Earlybird and Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel, Reuters reported.

N26 was valued at $3.6 billion in its May fundraising, and Founder and CEO Valentin Stalf said three years from now would be “fast” to be listed on the stock exchange, according to Reuters. He said there are still attractive conditions under which to raise funds from private investors.

During the pandemic, N26 didn’t see any major setbacks, although it put on hold its efforts to branch into new markets, Reuters reported. It had planned to roll out service in Brazil but decided against that during the pandemic. It also decided against debuting in the U.K. amid Brexit.

But Stalf said the company would continue its rollout in the U.S., Reuters reported. The company has been focusing on core markets like Germany, France, Spain and Italy, considered the company’s core.

Stalf has received criticism for procrastinating on letting employees set up a works council, which is standard procedure in Germany, according to Reuters. He said a global employee representation would be set up by the end of the year.

In June, Lindsey Grossman, then-director of product for N26, said in an interview with PYMNTS that with more people using digital-based payments systems, the solution could lie in the cloud, upon which all of N26’s functions are based. She said the cloud could help to quickly meet customer needs and to craft services specifically for them.